Many personal computing devices, such as smart phones, tablets, laptops, portable media players, e-book readers, and head-mounted displays (HMD) (e.g., eyeglasses, goggles, or helmets) enable digital image data capturing as a key feature. An important characteristic for such portable computing devices is the image quality and resolution capable of being provided by these devices. Indeed, demand for an electronic device incorporating digital imaging functionality can be driven in part by whether the device can provide images having higher fidelity and resolution than other devices. Portable electronic devices typically rely on charge-coupled device (CCD) or CMOS image sensors for digital imaging, and one approach for enabling higher resolution image data is to reduce the size of each pixel of such sensors. However, as the size of each pixel decreases, the amount of light available for the pixel also decreases, which can increase noise and degrade image quality. Another possibility is to increase the size of the chip for the sensor, such as by increasing the size of the pixel array. This approach can result in higher capacitance, which can affect the charge transfer rate of the CCD or CMOS sensor and render the sensor unsuitable for imaging purposes.